Television antenna bracket



March 6, 1951 F. E. DUDLEY ETAL TELEVISION ANTENNA BRACKET 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1949 TORNEYS March 6, 1951 DUDLEY ETAL.2,5 43,900

TELEVISION ANTENNA BRACKET Filed Jan. 17, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS Hank]; Duchy A.Dcclle March 6, 1951 F. E. DUDLEY ETAL2,543,900

TELEVISION ANTENNA BRACKET Filed Jan. 17, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS Cl Patented Mar. 6, 1951 TELEVISION ANTENNA BRACKET Frank E.Dudley, Philadelphia, Pa., and Roy A. Dudley, North Kenova, OhioApplication January 17, 1949, Serial No. 71,286

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to television antenna clamps.

A purpose of the invention is to permit support of a television antennafrom the'chimney of a building without the necessity of wrapping bandsor wires around the chimney, and without dam-. age to the chimney.

A further purpose is to permit installation of a television antenna to achimney even under conditions in which it is difiicult for aworkman tofind support and necessary to work with only one hand available.

A further purpose is to avoid the necessity of carrying extra equipmentsuch as strap tightening tools to the roof in installing a televisionantenna to a chimney.

A further purpose is to secure a television antenna in a position inwhich vibration will be minimized.

A further purpose is to clear any overhang on the wall of a chimney.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings we have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerousembodiments in which the invention may appear, choosing the forms shownfrom the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactoryoperation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a perspective of a chimney to which the antenna clamp of theinvention has been applied.

Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the clamp of Figure 1omitting the antenna.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the clamp of Figure1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the clamp ofFigure 1, with the chimney Describin in illustration but not inlimitation and referring to the drawings:

In the prior art considerable time and expense have been involved in theinstallation oi an outside television antenna. On roofs it has beendifficult to find satisfactory attachments, and the practice has beenadopted of securing antenna to chimneys by wires, bands, or the like.This is often difiicult and dangerous, especially as the position of theworkmen is frequently very precarious, and in many instances he can onlyemploy one hand at a time to work, requiring the use of the other handto hold his position.

The attachment by bands and strapping has necessitated bringing straptightening devices to the top of the chimney which is often difiicult.

At best such attachment means are subject to corrosion and early failurefrom this cause.

The present invention is designed to make attachment to a chimney moreeasily and cheaply, with greater safety to the workman and with moreassurance of permanence. The antenna is very well supported againstvibration even in a high Wind.

As best seen in Figure l, a chimney 20 is provided with an external bead2| near the top. A television antenna 22 of tubular metal is supportedin upright position fromthe chimney by a clamp 23 in accordance with theinvention.

. The tubular antenna extends into the upper open end of a socket 24having a bottom drainage opening 25. Set screws 26 extending through thewall of the socket permit gripping of the antenna.

At the mouth of the socket is located a lug 21 desirably integraltherewith, having a transverse opening 28. A ground clamp, lightningarrester or transmission line clamp 29 of well known type is mounted onthe lug with the ground clamp portion 3| spanning the lug and a bolt 32passing through the opening 28 and through the clamp to secure it inplace. A transmission line 33 having conducters on each side of aninsulating central portion as well known extends through the "arrester,connected to the antenna in well known manner, and extending down to thetelevision set.

Desirably integral with the socket and extending transversely theretopreferably near the upper open end of the socket is a bar 34 ofsufficient length to bridge the wall of the chimney and the bead 2|.Slidable on the bar, and havingsuffficient width Where it engages thebar to prevent undue rocking, is an outer clamp 35 which preferablyextends downwardly generally parallel to the socket at 35 from a sliderportion 31 and then diverges into bifurcated arms 38. At the lower orouter ends of the arms, extending transversely to the arms, are clampinscrews 40 threaded into the arms of the outer clamp. These screws arepreferably located below the bead of the chimney as shown in Figure 4;to give better anchorage-against upward movementu- 8 inclusive.

On the opposite or inside of the chimney wall is located an inner clamp4| having a slider portion 42 which slides along the bar 34 when theclamp is released, but has sufiicient length of engagement so that whenthe clamp is tight it will hold firmly without undue rocking. Experienceindicates that it is not necessary to employ a set screw to hold thesliding portion 42 at a given position on the bar. The inner clamp 4|extends in the same direction as the outer clamp (downwardly from thebar), provided With wings 43 extending laterally at points below theslider portion, and has threaded therethrough levelling screws 44 whichcan be adjusted to allow for irregularity of the inside of the chimneywall.

The lower end of the socket has a transverse inwardly directedprojection 45 which fits into .a slot 66 between the bifurcated arms 38of the outer clamp, thus locking the socket firmly against rocking orvibrating about the bar as an axis.

In operation the outside clamp is first slid on the bar until it hastravelled to its position adjoining the socket. The bar is thenconveniently extended across the top of the chimney wall, after whichthe inner clamp, if not already in place, is slid along the bar until itengages the inside of the Wall. If the inner bar does not sit squarelydue to unevenness of the wall, the levelling screws 64 are adjusteduntil proper seating is obtained. Once such seating is obtained theclamp is tightened by screwing the clamping screws 66 against theoutside of the wall, thus tending to spread the outer ends of the armsand firmly frictionally engaging the sliders on the bar.

The clamp is now in position for mounting the antenna, which is placedin the socket and held by the set screws if necessary. The lightningarrester, if not already installed, is then mounted on the lug, and thetransmission line placed in position. In view of the fact that thechimney does not constitute a ground, it is commonly necessary to run aground connection not shown from the clamp 3i to a suitable ground suchas a soil pipe.

The material of which the clamp is made may vary to suit therequirements of the user, although it has been found to be verysatisfactory to manufacture the clamp out of aluminum alloy or castings.

It will be evident that the clamp of the invention can be applied to awide variety of constructions of chimneys and the like.

In some instances it may be preferable to use a clamp form of socket asshown in Figures 6 to This has the advantage of being adjustable tovarious sizes of antenna and of permitting more positive support andattachment to any given size of antenna. In this form of socket a socketbody 4! is mounted on the bar 34 in the same manner as the socket ismounted in the other form, and carries a projection 45' for interlockingwith one of the clamp arms at the bottom of the socket. At the topandbottom on either side the socket body has lugs 48 provided with holes56, which engage a cooperating 4 to draw the socket parts tight againstthe antenna at the top and bottom.

At the bottom of the socket body a bottom wall 56 extends across thebody to engage and seat the bottom end of the antenna. There is amplespace for drainage around the bottom wall.

The form of Figures 6 to 8 is assembled in the same manner as that ofFigures 1 to 5 inclusive, except that the antenna is clamped by thesocket clamps rather than by the set screws.

In view of our invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of ourinvention without copying the structure shown, and we, therefore, claimall such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope ofour claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a television antenna clamp, a socket; a bar secured to the socketand extending transversely thereof, an outside clamp mounted on the barnear the socket and extending transversely of the bar and longitudinallyof the socket, having diverging spaced arms at the end of the outsideclamp remote from the bar, screw clamps on the arms and an inside clampslidable along the bar, lockable by, clamping pressure of the screwclamps in any sliding position and extending transversely of the bar inthe same direction as the outside clamp.

2. In a television antenna clamp, a socket, a bar secured to the socketand extending transversely thereof, an outside clamp slidably mounted onthe bar, extending transversely of the bar and longitudinally of thesocket and having an interlocking slot on the side toward the socket, aninterlocking projection extending from the socket and engaging the slotin the outside clamp, screw clamps on the outside clamp and an insideclamp slidable along the bar, lockable by clamping pressure in anysliding position and extending transversely of the bar in the samedirection as the outside clamp.

3. In a television antenna clamp, a socket, a bar secured to the socketand extending transversely thereof, an outside clamp mounted on the barnear the socket and extending transversely of the bar and longitudinallyof the socket, having diverging spaced arms, screw clamps on the arms,an inside clamp slidable along the bar, lockable by clamping pressure inany sliding position and extending transversely of the bar in the samedirection as the outside clamp and levelling screws on the inside clamp.1

FRANK E. DUDLEY. ROY A. DUDLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 208,732 Gurley Oct. 8, 1878970,655 Sheble Sept. 20, 1910 1,532,688 Feuerstein Apr. 7, 19251,664,161 Considine Mar. 27, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country DateGermany Feb. 13, 1921

